The Battle of Algiers

(La battaglia di Algeri)

New 4K Restoration

A masterpiece. . . . Surely the most harrowing political epic ever.

The New Yorker
featuring

Brahim Haggiag, Yacef Saadi , Tommaso Neri, Jean Martin,

The first European film to treat the explosive subject of colonialism and wars of liberation, The Battle of Algiers probably remains the most powerful. Pontecorvo's exciting reconstruction of the Algerian rebellion against the French centers on Ali La Pointe, the National Liberation Front leader who conducts the campaign of rebellion while dodging the relentless and merciless French Colonel Mathieu. A flashback format and newsreel "documentary" precision—though it was, incredibly, entirely staged—give a palpable sense of inevitability to the terrible violence, but also to its result. 

Amos Vogel
FILM DETAILS 
Screenwriter
  • Franco Solinas
  • Gillo Pontecorvo
Cinematographer
  • Marcello Gatti
Language
  • French / Arabic
  • English subtitles
Print Info
  • B&W
  • 4K DCP
  • 123 mins
Source
  • Rialto Pictures